From A Different Perspective
by calladragon
Summary: While I don't believe things would happen this way, I've challenged myself to write a Post-Bluebird three or four shot from the more "romantic" perspective.
1. Chapter 1

A/N: I'll hopefully be posting the next chapter of _From This Point On _laterthis week. I'm still working out how I want to get from where I am at the moment to where I'm heading in the next few chapters and it hasn't quite clicked yet. In the meantime, I'm still writing _stuff_ since one story fuels another for me. So, here's the beginning of my very short Season Finale Three or Four Shot from a different perspective. Like with _Ouroboros_ and _Settling the Score_, I'm challenging myself to write something I'm not sure I can write (since I don't believe things would happen this way) for no other reason than to see if I can pull it off half way decently. ~Calla

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Opening her eyes, Lisbon couldn't believe she'd let Jane drive her home from the airport. Then again, she could. That last stunt he'd pulled had exhausted everyone. It had taken Abbott several hours to get the man released into his custody and she'd spent most of that time pacing the floor alone. The jerk faced TSA Agent had refused to let her back into the Interrogation Room even with her Boss's intervention. He'd mumbled something stupid like "kissing suspects is against the law." She'd wanted to demand he show her where that one was written; but, she hadn't. The look Abbott was shooting her might have had something to do with halting her belligerent stance. Anyways, she hadn't appreciated being separated unnecessarily from Jane. She still didn't. However, she'd dealt with it. Once their resident mischief maker was free, they'd all boarded the next flight out of there and never looked back.

Hopefully, none of them would be coming through that particular airport any time soon.

Unlike his three hyped-up companions, Jane had spent most of the flight from Miami back to Austin catching up on his sleep. None of the rest of them had done the same. She'd been lost in thought contemplating the best way to disentangle her life from Pike's as painlessly as possible for both of them. Although she'd let Marcus know she wasn't joining him in DC while crossing from the Tarmac to the Interrogation Room, she owed him more than the briefest of explanations for her change of heart. But, before she did that, she had to choose her words carefully.

Truthfully, she still hadn't figured out the best way to tell the man who thought she loved him that she loved another man.

Shaking her head, Lisbon's thoughts turned to her other companions. They hadn't been nearly as well behaved as Jane. She wasn't sure whether she'd wanted to laugh or smack them. Maybe pulling out her gun and shooting them would have been the most satisfactory course of action. Nah, she'd have made a mess and gotten in trouble. However, that didn't mean she couldn't let both of them know exactly how little she appreciated their behavior first thing Monday morning.

She still couldn't believe them.

Her boss and fellow agent had spent most of the flight alternating between talking about the case they'd just wrapped up and staring at the back of her head so hard she could actually _feel _it. She didn't know what they thought they were accomplishing by any of that. She did, however, know what they were thinking. Abbott was wondering why one or the other of them hadn't just called the other's bluff before things got so far out of hand. Cho was pondering how he could have missed what was happening right in front of his eyes.

Personally, she didn't get that one herself.

How Kimball could ever think she and Jane had a sibling relationship was beyond her. He knew both of them better than anyone and he'd observed their interactions for years. He'd seen how frantic they both got if the other was endangered or hurt. He knew Jane had killed for her…Sacrificed viable leads to Red John…He knew how frantic and depressed she'd been during Jane's six month hiatus in Vegas...How badly his whatever the hell that was with Lorelei had derailed her...In the end, she'd given up easy street and a good retirement to follow Jane to the FBI for goodness sakes. If anyone should have recognized the truth of their situation, it was Kimball Cho. Even _she_ would have seen it had she been on the outside looking in. But, he claimed he hadn't. All she could think was he'd pull a Rigsby and hadn't wanted to.

Cho was too good a cop to be so foolish.

"You know, you got yourself in a crap load of trouble back there." Lisbon gave Jane a conspiratorial smirk. "While I don't think Abbott really cares we're together, he didn't appreciate having to jump through hoops to get your sorry butt out of the TSA's clutches."

"I'm sure he didn't; but, I'd do it all again." There wasn't an ounce of regret in Jane's voice. "I didn't appreciate having the best kiss I've had…in a very long time...interrupted by that mindless goon either."

It didn't sound quite right to say in his life and he didn't think Lisbon would believe him anyway. But, she'd be wrong. He'd never been in danger of losing everything with Angela…Not until that fateful night he actually had…But, he couldn't say the same for the woman beside him.

He'd been mere seconds from her willfully exiting his life forever so he'd say that kiss was without a doubt the best damned kiss he'd had in his life for the simple reason she'd decided to stay instead.

"As I recall, we didn't let him interrupt anything." Lisbon gently reminded him. "He wouldn't have been beating on the glass so long if we had."

"You might have a point there." Jane leaned in to give her a gentle kiss. "If I had to do it all over again, I wouldn't wait so long."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Lisbon asked.

"That Marcus would never have gotten a chance to sweep you off your feet." Jane said as he opened his door. "I'll get your bag."

"I'll let you." Lisbon said as she reached out to halt him. "You want to come in?"

She could tell by Jane's demeanor he intended to walk her to her door, see her safely inside, and take his leave. They'd had a long couple of days and he knew she was tired. Beyond that, they'd taken a gigantic step a few short hours ago neither of them really expected. One neither of them was necessarily ready for.

While Lisbon was fairly sure Jane had meant to let her know he didn't want her to go, that he had feelings beyond friendship for her, and that he wanted her to stay, she was equally sure he'd never meant to say those three little words either. Not yet. He clearly hadn't been emotionally prepared to go quite as far as he had and it was a lot to take in. Even for her. Jane probably thought it best to give them both some breathing room to think things over.

She wasn't sure that was such a good idea.

"Yeah, I think I do." Jane surprised her. "Give me a minute." He hit the button to unlock the trunk.

"Get your bag while you're at it." Lisbon said. "It's too late to drive out to your place tonight and we don't have to be at the office in the morning so you might as well stay."

Jane nodded thinking the mattress in Lisbon's spare room was even more comfortable than the one he had at home and that was saying a lot. Grabbing both suitcases, he followed her towards her townhouse noting every swing of her hips. Somehow, he had a feeling that prissy walk was for his benefit and a certain part of his anatomy was enjoying the show. Watching Lisbon unlock her door and throw it open, he carried their suitcases inside.

"You want me to drop this by your room?" Jane asked as he glanced in the direction of her stairs.

"You might as well." Lisbon said. "Why don't you shower and change while you're at it and I'll do the same. I'd say we're both pretty grubby wouldn't you?"

"Sounds like a plan." Jane agreed. "I'll meet you down here in a few."

"Just don't get any funky ideas because we've kissed." Lisbon said walking into her kitchen. "Oh, and stay out of my shower since I'm going to be using it in a few minutes. I don't care if you like mine better than yours."

Or the shower that had been his on the occasional night he'd stayed over before she'd started dating Pike.

Neither of them had thought anything about it. He'd been camping out on her couch every once in a while for years. Or he had in Sacramento. When she'd moved to Austin, she'd gotten a steal on a bigger place in a recently built complex they were trying to fill. Getting a three bedroom for less than the price of a two was too good to pass up considering she got both an "office" and a decent sized guest room as part of the deal. Who cared that she didn't really need the extra space?

Jane had soon convinced her she did. He'd grown quite competent at arranging those perfectly innocent, impromptu sleep-overs over the years. The sneaky bastard. He had another think coming if he thought he was moving into her place once they started seriously dating. Stay over once in a while, yeah. But, crashing her space permanently was a different story.

Ignoring her, Jane carried both suitcases up the stairs knowing Lisbon would soon follow.


	2. Chapter 2

"Took you long enough." Jane observed as Lisbon plopped down on the couch beside him. "There must have been a whole lot of dirt you needed to scrub off."

"Would you be quiet?" Lisbon snarked. "Maybe I just wanted a long, hot soak after all the trouble you've put me through."

"Maybe you deserved one." Jane conceded. "But, I was starting to wonder if you were ever coming down or if you drowned."

"It didn't take you long to raid my private stash did it?" Dismissing his grumble, Lisbon nodded in the direction of the two glasses of red wine and her favorite cheese and crackers sitting on the coffee table. "Or make yourself at home."

"I didn't think you'd mind." Jane shook his head at the smirk she was trying to hide. "And I thought a glass of wine would take the edge off."

"If you wanted to take the edge off, you should have headed for that bottle of Bourbon hiding in the back corner of the pantry." Lisbon commented mildly surprised he hadn't. "I can assure you it's just as full as you left it."

"I thought you'd have thrown that out by now." Jane gave her a pointed stare. "Why didn't you?"

"Why would I?" Lisbon asked. "We were friends, Jane. Just because I was dating someone else didn't mean I never expected you to drop by again. Even if I'm not nuts about the stuff, that's an expensive bottle to toss in the garbage. Especially considering it didn't belong to me."

Even if Jane had been perfectly willing to share and she'd taken a few sips to make him happy.

"I did drop by a number of times." Jane said quietly. "Every time I did, you weren't home or Pike was here."

Mercifully, it was usually the former and not the latter.

"We were seeing each other." Lisbon defended herself against that unvoiced _something _in Jane's tone before taking a healthy swig of wine. "I even said I'd marry him." She reminded him unnecessarily. "Besides, it wasn't like you couldn't have picked up the phone to let me know you wanted to come over. We could have made plans when Marcus wasn't around. It's not like you haven't done that before."

Although he usually preferred to catch her off guard by just dropping by to giving her that warning telephone call.

"As you've already said, you were seeing someone." Jane studied the wine eddying in his glass as though the wisdom of the universe could be deciphered in those ruby swirls. "It wouldn't have been proper."

Lisbon snorted. "Since when do you care about proper?"

"Since you were finally serious about someone and I didn't want to interfere." Taking a healthy swig from his glass, Jane silently approved of Lisbon's selection. "Don't look so surprised. It's not like I expected to find myself unwilling to live without you. I tried to be happy for you instead."

"I know you did." Lisbon agreed. "I tried to be happy, too. But, I wasn't. Not as happy as I should have been."

"It wasn't right." Jane told her. "When it's right, you know it."

"Is that so?" Lisbon asked. "Maybe that's why something always felt off with Marcus."

"He wasn't the one." Jane said quietly. "We both know that."

"Yeah, we do." Lisbon reluctantly agreed. "I just wish I'd realized that before everything got so messy."

"A part of you always knew." Jane told her quietly. "You wouldn't have had that look in your eyes every time I showed up to say I just wanted you to be happy if you hadn't."

"What look is that?" Lisbon asked. "The one begging you to tell me how you really felt?"

"Yeah, that's the one." Jane admitted with equal reluctance. "The one I ignored for what I thought was the greater good."

"The look you ignored in favor of being an idiot." Lisbon stated bluntly. "You have no idea how bad it hurt every time you told me how happy you were I was with Marcus. Like you thought I couldn't see the truth in _your_ eyes. You were anything but."

"That's true." Jane agreed. "I guess the only thing left to ask is why you didn't call my bluff?"

"It wasn't my place." Lisbon said quietly. "Every time I'd tried to do that in the past you always evaded me. I ended up more confused than I was before. I wasn't doing it again. You were going to have to come to me."

Staring into her eyes, Jane knew she was remembering that whole "Love you, Lisbon" thing before everything had imploded in Vegas. She had called him on it and he'd adroitly sidestepped the issue without telling her a thing. He'd had no other choice. He couldn't put her at that much additional risk. The hell of it was, yes, he'd meant it and he'd meant it exactly as she'd hoped he did. He just hadn't meant to tell her.

The words slipped out.

"I can see where you might feel that way." Jane agreed. "I'm sorry I wasn't able to do that before things got so out of hand. But, I've done it now."

"Yes, you have." Lisbon said. "And I've accepted your overture."

Lisbon leaned back and stared at Jane only to find him staring back at her. All she could think was Jane had a vaguely stunned, "what comes next" kind of look on his face. She was pretty sure she bore a similar expression. Things had happened pretty fast between them. It wasn't like they'd really had time to talk or even to consider their next move. While the last twelve years might have been leading up to now, they didn't exactly have a "How To" Manuel telling them _this_ comes next.

All they really knew was they wanted to be together.

However that came into being.

From the way things looked at the moment, it coming very fumbling.

"What are you doing?" Lisbon watched Jane staring at his hand and knew what he was contemplating before he slowly slid the ring from his finger. "You can't do that."

Just the thought of him removing that ring took her breath away.

"I already have." Jane pressed his wedding band into the palm of her hand and gently closed her fingers over the circle of gold. "Teresa, I can't love you as I should and still cling to Angela as I have. She'll always be in my heart. She doesn't need to be on my hand."

Leaning forward to carefully place Jane's gift on her coffee table, Lisbon shot him one more questioning look.

"I'm okay." Jane reassured her. "I took it off once on the island not long after I met Fischer. It didn't feel quite right so I put it back on. I wasn't sure it would ever be right. Now, I know it just wasn't time."

"But it is tonight?" Lisbon glanced at the ring lying so innocently on her coffee table before picking it up. "Are you sure about that?"

"What do you think?" There was a challenge in Jane's gaze. "Do you honestly think I'd give that to you if it wasn't?" Jane nodded in the direction of his ring. "I'm not going to ask you to give it back. You have my word. It's time to let them go in peace. I won't lie and say the transition will be easy. But, it has to be done and I'm willing to do it." Jane didn't have to voice the implied "for you."

She could see it in his eyes.

"Then I'll accept your offer." Lisbon laid the ring back on the table. "And I'll put it in a safe place…If you ever want it back, all you have to do is ask."

Jane gave her a tentative smile knowing he wouldn't. What he might very well want was for her to put another ring in its place before too long. Time would tell.

"I won't be doing that." Jane reassured her. "But, I will be doing this." Taking her wine glass from her hand and setting it on the table, he grabbed Lisbon's hand to gently pull her up and over to rest against his chest.

"What exactly is this?" Lisbon gave him a questioning look as she settled in more comfortably. "Not that it really matters. I could get real used to having a Jane pillow."

"Not much at the moment." Jane told her. "But, I'm hoping to change your mind."

"You are, are you?" He was moving a lot to fast for her. "I'm not so sure about that."

"I am." Jane said. "I think you will be, too."

"You do?" Lisbon said. "Why is that?"

"It's simple really. We're two consenting adults who care deeply for each other." She had to know that even though he'd only said those three little words that once on the plane. He certainly knew how she felt and she hadn't really said them at all. However, they'd both conveyed their feelings any number of ways over the past few years including recently. "It's taken us twelve long years to get to this point so we certainly haven't moved hastily. I'd say since we've covered the most important bases, there really shouldn't be a problem with taking our relationship to the next level."

"You would, would you?" Lisbon grinned evilly at him. "I think you just want to get in my pants."

"I think the feeling's mutual." Jane laughed out loud at the predatory look on her face. "Am I succeeding?"

"Maybe." Lisbon laid her head against his chest and closed her eyes. "It's certainly looking more promising than it did."


End file.
